Photo by Sarah Doffman on Unsplash
Statisticians have determined a map of places with the highest population of centenarians.
At the time of the 2021 census, there were 13,924 centenarians were living in England and Wales, a 24.5% increase from 2011.
Areas of the UK with the most centenarians tended to be on the south coast, while several London boroughs were among the areas with the least, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Most centenarians are women, mirroring overall life expectancy trends in the UK, with 11,288 of the people over 100 in England and Wales being female in 2021 and only 2,636 males.
Areas with the most centenarians per 100,000 people:
- East Devon 64
- Arun 59
- New Forest 57
- Waverley 53
- Rother 52
- Somerset West and Taunton 48
- North Norfolk 47
- Dorset 46
- Folkestone and Hythe 45
- Fylde 45
Areas with the least centenarians per 100,000 people:
- Lewisham 10
- Waltham Forest 10
- Crawley 9
- Knowsley 9
- Islington 9
- Lambeth 9
- Hackney 8
- Tower Hamlets 6
- Newham 5
- Isles of Scilly 0
Londoner Lauretta Boston turned 100 in 2022, she said: “I never seem to have enough time, because everything is a big effort and I’m so slow. It takes me time to do everything, so the days seem short. I also have my music and my family and friends.
“My sister is 94 and I have had friends who also lived a long time. Two of them lived to 90 and one to 102, but unfortunately, they have passed on. That’s what happens.
“Friends I have made more recently don’t know me as well as friends I knew when I was young. They can be very good friends but can only really see you as you are now.”
The oldest person was 112 in 2021, and vastly outlived their life expectancy at birth, which in 1921 was nearly 68 for women and just over 61 for men.
Life expectancy for babies born in 2021 is over 90 for women and more than 87 for men. Girls born in 2021 have a 19.6% chance they will live to 100, while 14.1% of boys born in the same year are expected to reach their century.
